Russian forces appear to be mere kilometers away from the city center of Ukrainian capital of Kyiv as Russia's invasion of Ukraine entered its third day on Saturday, with reports of Russian attacks in the Lviv region in the western part of the country.
Britain's Defense Ministry said the bulk of Russian forces involved in the advance on Ukraine's capital were now 30 km (19 miles) from the city center.
Britain, which earlier disputed Russian reports that Russian forces had captured the southeastern city of Melitopol, said the Ukrainian military was continuing to put up staunch resistance across the country.
Western intelligence sources say Russian forces have encountered far stronger Ukrainian resistance than they had expected and this was significantly slowing their advances since their invasion began on Thursday, in the biggest attack on a European state since World War Two.
"Russian forces have continued their advance on Kyiv with the bulk of their forces now 30km from the center of the city," the Defense Ministry said in an intelligence update posted on Twitter.
Local governor Oleksiy Kuleba, meanwhile, said Russian troops are building up on the Ukrainian border in the Kyiv region. Kuleba said 71 people were currently wounded in hospitals in the region, including soldiers and civilians.
"Russia has yet to gain control of the airspace over Ukraine greatly reducing the effectiveness of the Russian Air Force. Russian casualties are likely to be heavy and greater than anticipated or acknowledged by the Kremlin," it said.
At least 198 Ukrainians, including three children, have been killed and 1,115 people wounded so far in Russia's invasion, Interfax quoted Ukraine's Health Ministry as saying. It was unclear whether the numbers comprised only civilian casualties.
5 View gallery
Ukrainian forces look on a burned vehicle likely destroyed in a Russia attack
(Photo: AP)
Kyiv's Mayor Vitali Klitschko said 35 people, including two children, were wounded during overnight fighting in the city.
Klitschko said there was currently no major Russian military presence in Kyiv, although he added that saboteur groups were active. The metro system is now working only as a shelter for city residents and trains have stopped running, he said.
There were signs of panic in Kyiv city center, with Ukrainian soldiers with guns and a group of women running along the street. Nearby, Ukrainian soldiers forced a man in civilian clothes to lie down on the pavement.
Earlier, Kyiv authorities said a missile hit a residential building, and witnesses said another hit an area near the airport. There was no immediate word on casualties.
In the meantime, Ukrainian forces repelled a Russian attack in the Lviv region near Brody in western Ukraine, Lviv's mayor was quoted as saying by the Telegram messaging service.
"Russians landed three helicopters near Brody at 9am. About 60 people," mayor Andrey Sadovyi said. "The (Ukrainian) armed forces are repelling the occupier! We are keeping the situation under control," he added.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Saturday said that the capital was still under Ukrainian control. "We have withstood and are successfully repelling enemy attacks. The fighting goes on," he said in a video message posted on his social media.
"We already have almost full support from EU countries for disconnecting Russia from SWIFT. I hope that Germany and Hungary will have the courage to support this decision. We have the courage to defend our homeland, to defend Europe," Zelenskiy added.
The United States imposed sanctions on Putin, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov. The European Union and Britain earlier froze any assets Putin and Lavrov held in their territory. Canada took similar steps.
The invasion triggered a flurry of credit rating moves on Friday, with S&P lowering Russia's rating to "junk" status, Moody's putting it on review for a downgrade to junk, and S&P and Fitch cutting Ukraine on default worries.